Just hours before the Confederate flag was set to be removed this morning, South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley walked out of the statehouse, taking in the scene and preparing for the historic event.
She had signed the bill to remove the banner Thursday afternoon.
Around 10 a.m. ET, the flag had been removed, sent to a Confederate museum nearby.
Opposition to the Confederate symbol gained momentum after the killings of nine parishioners at a historic black church in Charleston.
Haley told NBC's "Today" show that she would be thinking of the victims of that shooting when the flag is removed at the ceremony Friday morning.
Authorities said that suspect Dylann Roof was racially motivated to perform the killings and was seen in photos posing with the Confederate flag as a symbol of hatred, WSOC reported.
The Confederate flag has flown on the grounds of the South Carolina Statehouse for more than 50 years.
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